


Fatal Miscalculation

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, HSWC 2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-19
Updated: 2014-05-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 19:29:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1659815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of a doomed timeline, Terezi comes face to face with the girl she couldn't kill.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Fill for the HSWC Bonus Round 1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fatal Miscalculation

**Author's Note:**

> aaaand here's another fill for HSWC's Bonus Round 1! look at how productive i'm being today wow
> 
> it's based off of this prompt: http://hs-worldcup.dreamwidth.org/18819.html?thread=3251075#cmt3251075

_You failed._

The words repeat themselves over and over again in your mind, replaying like a broken record. Your cowardess haunts you, even now, and you deserve it. You could argue with anyone who would dare to patronize your decision by simply retaliating with, "If _you_ had to kill your best friend, would you be able to do it?" 

But you don't. How can you, when you know that you're in the wrong? 

It should have been easy. Vriska was horrible. She was ruthless, hotheaded and vengeful. She had killed hundreds of trolls to feed her lusus and shown no remorse while doing so. She'd ruined lives and pulled plenty of reckless and stupid stunts to fulfill her own selfish motives. Your moral code would dictate that she deserved repercussions, deserved to face the consequences of her actions like the responsible adult she'd never wanted to be. And when you'd met her on the roof of the meteor, you had thought you were perfectly prepared to dispense justice.

She'd made it clear that she didn't plan on negotiating with you, so that meant you either had to kill her and put an end to her power-drunken conquest, or let her go, thus creating an offshoot timeline that was inevitably doomed. Obviously, you didn't want to doom yourself and everyone else, so you had to make a sacrifice. You shouldn't have even hesitated-- it shouldn't have been a difficult choice to make. In your mind's eye, you could see the plausible events that would unfold based on your decision, and both ended in her death.

So why couldn't you administer a kinder fate? Why did you have to let yourself die and drag everyone else down with you? Why were you so _weak_?

You don't even know how much time has passed since then, how long you've been wandering dream bubbles without a purpose. Then again, what purpose could a dead person possibly have? You scoff at the notion that anything you do at this point is of any importance and continue your bored trek through your memories, trying to remember a simpler time, a time before you lost everything you cared about.

Unfortunately, the broken record in your head plays on, making it impossible to forget. 

You're back in the forest you grew up in now, trudging through the piles of lovely pink leaves as a breeze ruffles your hair. Living alone had its perks; your home was beautiful, and now it's gone, nothing but a wistfully conjured reminder of what used to be.

You're snapped out of your thoughts by the sound of footsteps rustling the grass. You stop in your tracks and look up, your blood running cold. For a few moments you think that your mind is playing tricks on you, cruelly taunting you, and you've finally lost it. After you sniff harder at the figure slowly approaching you, though, you're able to confirm that it's exactly who it appeared to be: Vriska Serket, donning her old Marquise Mindfang FLARPing costume. 

She stops a couple feet away from you, gazing steadily at you with a set of blank eyes. She's as dead as you are, and there's a sinking feeling in your stomach that you know the cause. You can't tell what she's feeling, but the corners of her mouth turn down slightly, her eyes narrowing analytically. Then they widen again, and her lips part as though to speak, but no sound comes out. She just stands there and gapes at you, and you can't do anything but stare dumbly back, at a loss for words.

There are so many things you want to say to her but can't bring yourself to. You want to yell at her, tell her how stupid she is and how awful of her it was to make you choose. You want to tell her to leave, so that you're not faced with your mistake. You want to tell her what her actions have cost you and everyone else, let her know of the hurt she's caused. Part of you even wants to apologize for being unable to go through with something that would ultimately have made things turn out better. 

When you finally regain your ability speak, your voice is cold. "Was it worth it?"

The question shocks her, you can tell. Her fists clench and her form goes rigid with emotions she would never have displayed in life. Regret, self-loathing, anguish... "No," she rasps, swallowing hard and staring at the ground.

Asking that question didn't make you feel any better, and your shoulders slump defeatedly. When you step towards her she tenses visibly. Then you throw your arms around her, resting your head on her shoulder and feeling her stiffen even further in your grip. Tentatively, she hugs you back, the gesture awkward as her arms loop around your waist and you can feel her trembling.

You hold her there as the seconds tick by like hours, and when she pipes up again she is uncharacteristically quiet. "I'm... I'm sorry..." Shame isn't something you thought Vriska was even capable of feeling, but it's practically radiating off of her now.

"I know. I'm sorry, too," you murmur sadly, and you are. You have a lot to be sorry for, but most of all you're sorry because no matter how terrible your sister can be, you're doomed to love her always.


End file.
